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With unrest back home, Ukrainian players struggle to focus

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – With its crisp air, abundant sunshine and picturesque mountain backdrop, the traveling tennis bandwagon eagerly alights on the BNP Paribas Open here in the Southern California desert two

With unrest back home, Ukrainian players struggle to focus

Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine defeated Lukasz Kubot of Poland at the BNP Paribas Open tennis in Indian Wells, Calif. Thursday. Stakhovsky wore a black ribbon on his sleeve to symbolize the unrest back home.(Photo: John G. Mabanglo, EPA)

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – With its crisp air, abundant sunshine and picturesque mountain backdrop, the traveling tennis bandwagon eagerly alights on the BNP Paribas Open here in the Southern California desert two hours east of Los Angeles.

But not all are in high spirits.

The violent, unsettling and rapidly unfolding events in Ukraine have left players from the former Soviet Republic frantically searching for information and speaking out in various forums for dialogue and peace.

Alexandr Dolgopolov posted a YouTube video a week ago with several top players such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray expressing hopes for peace. It has had more than 58,000 views.

On Tuesday, Sergiy Stakhovsky wrote an impassioned first-person plea on SI.com about his conflicted feelings to continue competing with his countrymen facing everything from the violent crackdown of Viktor Yanukovych's deposed regime to the more recent incursion of Russian troops into Crimea.

"I would say it's the first time I stepped over the line to do any half-political statements in my career," said London-based Stakhovsky on Thursday, adding that has been in constant contact with his family in Kiev and others around the country. "None of the citizens of Ukraine is capable of staying out of it, I would say," he said.

Joining him in the second round was compatriot Elina Svitolina, who defeated Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-4, 7-5.

Two weeks ago, Dolgopolov, seeded 28th here, upset fourth-ranked David Ferrer on his way to the Rio de Janeiro final, where he fell to No. 1 Nadal. The result boosted the former top-15 player's ranking by seven slots.

Stakhovsky, who upset Roger Federer in the second round at Wimbledon last year, said it was not easy to stay focused and has been losing sleep by pouring over news articles on the Internet to stay abreast of developments.

"It's too much information and unfortunately you can't stop yourself because you want to know what's going on," he said.

In this most global of sports, Stakhovsky said he had received interest and support from a variety of players, even discussing his country's plight cautiously with his Russian counterparts.

"Sport is the thing that unites us," he said. "I'm talking here to Russian guys frequently and normally because I know them for years."

But the outspoken Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Tour Player Council, did not mince words.

He described the political jockeying as a "media war between Russia and the rest of the world" and hopes that things will stabilize before a real war breaks out.

"Certain things are not very good and certain things are dramatically bad in my country," he said.

Revealing the level of cynicism he feels about the referendum on Crimea being pushed by pro-Russian authorities, Stakhovsky, who called the vote illegal under Ukraine's constitution, said: "In Ukraine it doesn't matter how you vote. It matters who's counting."

Nadal, speaking at his pre-tournament press conference on Thursday, said he had no problem adding his voice when Dolgopolov asked him to participate in the YouTube posting.

"I never will refuse a video asking (for) peace," the Spaniard said, adding that he could not understand the mentality where wars and violence persist. "(In) my opinion, talking should be enough."